Weekend Guests
by The Beckster
Summary: Voltron had been too late. They hadn't been able to stop the Galra this time. As the Paladins pick their way through a leveled city, they come across a group of survivors and find themselves way out of their element. Everyone except Lance, that is. Sounds more dramatic than it really is. Lots of fluff and cute.
1. Chapter 1

So this started out as a discussion with a friend about Lance's middle-child syndrome which somehow took a turn to "Lance is probably the only Paladin who's ever changed a diaper" and other discussions about Lance probably being the only one who has any child care experience.  
And then I was in need of a baby fix, but I have no babies in my life to give me said baby fix. So I settled for writing this instead. Because if I can't snuggle tiny babies in real life I'm going to make fictional characters do it.

This was just supposed to be a short and quick thing and then I went a tiny bit overboard. Oops.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Because who doesn't love adorable tiny baby and small child cuddles?

-Becks

* * *

 **Weekend Guests**

An eerie silence hung over the city, broken only occasionally by the shifting and settling of debris. It smothered the Paladins as they picked their way through the rubble; finding mementos of someone's life, finding even more evidence of someone's death.

"I can't believe the Galra would destroy an entire city like this." Pidge's voice was soft and disbelieving.

"They must have known we were coming." Keith stated grimly.

"God, who is this commander? He bombed out an entire city just to get a small band of rebels." Hunk turned to Lance. They were making their way down a mostly intact city block. "Do you think there were any survivors?"

"A lot of people probably evacuated," the Blue Paladin reasoned. "More probably escaped underground. They'll come back and rebuild." He paused as the wind shifted. It howled through the blown out windows of the surrounding buildings. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Hunk paused to listen. After a moment he shrugged and kept walking. "Just the wind."

"No… I heard something else." Lance turned slowly, straining to hear the sound again. Suddenly, without a word he took off running down a side street.

"Lance, we're not supposed to split up!" Hunk called after him. He sighed softly and followed his friend. Only Lance would go running off at random into a structurally unsound city. After a minute or two he began to hear the sound as well. It was faint; a strange croaking wail… like someone was crying and had been for a while. Was it a survivor?

Lance skidded to a stop in front of a building. It seemed mostly intact, and the crying was definitely coming from inside. The façade had crumbled and a pile of debris blocked the door.

"We gotta get inside," Hunk said as he caught up.

They cleared the rubble from the door in a matter of minutes. The crying continued.

"Hold on, we're coming for you!" Lance called out. If the crier heard they did not respond or stop crying.

The door was jammed on the other side with more debris, and it took both Hunk and Lance to push it opened. The crying became more distinct – Lance could hear two voices now. Almost as soon as the door had been shoved out of the way, the doorway itself began to crumble. Hunk reached up and braced the top.

"You go ahead, I'll hold the door," he grinned. "Just be quick about it."

Lance took off running deeper into the building. There were no windows in the hall and Lance relied on his helmet light for guidance. Occasionally a small slice of sunlight would come in from an opened door of an exterior room, but the surrounding buildings were tall, and the hanging smoke and dust from the bombing kept the light weak. Lance peeked into a few of the rooms he passed. This place had the feeling of a school, and he saw desks in one room, but further down the hall there was a room filled with low tables, and further down rooms with beds in them. Maybe a boarding school?

Lance was beginning to think that the building had held together remarkably well when he came to a juncture in the hall. To the left was nothing, just a solid wall of rock and twisted metal, the collapsed half of the building. The right was still in one piece though, aside from a few fallen pieces of plaster. He breathed a sigh of relief; the cries were coming from the right. He followed the cries to the end of the hall, far away from any damage. The door was locked, or jammed shut, but it gave way after he slammed into it a couple times. It flew opened and he stumbled into the room, throwing weak light onto its occupants. A couple of them screamed and ran for cover behind a bed.

"Dios mio, it's a bunch of kids!"

He counted five. The oldest couldn't have been more than seven, the two behind the bed looked about four. He found the criers too. An infant wrapped in a blanket and kept in a box by the older girl's feet and a toddler who sat by her side. Lance immediately took off his helmet and crouched down to their level.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here to help." He offered the kids a small smile. "I'm here with Voltron. Have you heard of Voltron?"

The older three shook their heads.

"That's okay, I can introduce you. I'm here to take you to safety." Lance held his hand out for the kids. The two hiding behind the bed stepped out; they watched him warily, looking to the eldest for guidance.

She shook her head resolutely. "Matrons told us to stay here where it's safe."

Hunk's voice carried in from the hall. "Lance, hurry up, this door won't hold forever!"

Lance smiled at the eldest. "I can see you're a very smart girl. What's your name?"

"Mira."

"Mira, you've done a very good job taking care of the others. You've kept them safe so we can rescue you."

Mira looked like she was weakening, but she remained resolute. "Matrons said not to go with strangers."

Lance couldn't help but smile. The kid was smart. He knew she'd probably follow if he picked up the babies and left, but he also doubted she'd stick around after getting out of the building. He did have one more card to play though.

"Would you like to go for a ride in my robot lion?"

That did the trick. It didn't win Mira over, but the two who had been watching from the bed gasped in delight. They would follow Lance, and the babies would be easy enough to carry. Mira would follow him too, if not to satisfy her own curiosity then to make sure the others were safe. She considered Lance for another moment before conceding with a soft "okay."

Lance smiled and popped his helmet back on. He was immediately bombarded with questions from the other Paladins. He chose to ignore them for the time being. "I'm coming out, Hunk. I found five kids."

It did nothing to satiate his teammates, but at the moment Lance had more important things to worry about. He scooped the baby out of the box and tried to soothe it.

"He's been crying all day," Mira informed him. "I tried to get him food, but I couldn't get to the kitchens."

"I can't say I blame him." Lance tucked the baby into the crook of his arm and hoisted the toddler onto his other hip. They both stopped crying for a moment, happy to be held by someone bigger. Lance knew it would only last until they realized they weren't going to be fed immediately. "Okay, Mira, I need your help one more time. Can you hold the other two's hands and make sure they don't get lost and you follow close behind me?"

Mira nodded and grabbed the other's hands. Lance stepped out of the room and led the kids back to the door. One of the younger kids whimpered fearfully as they trekked through the dark hallways.

"Don't worry, we'll be outside soon, I promise."

"Make it sooner, Lance," Hunk's voice was clearly strained. "I can't hold up this wall much longer."

"Be there in a minute, Hunk."

They finally reached the entrance. The kids brightened instantly at the sunlight. They rushed forward but stopped when they caught sight of Hunk.

"It's okay, this is my friend Hunk. He's helping too." Lance explained, nudging the kids forward.

Hunk offered a tight smile as he shifted, holding the doorway together, but making room for them to pass. The younger two took charge then, dragging Mira out into the street. Lance ducked under Hunk's arms and followed the kids. They hadn't gone far, and one of the younger ones looked around anxiously.

"Where's your robot lion?" he asked impatiently.

"We have to walk a little bit, but I promise you are going to love Blue," Lance assured them, taking the lead again. "Just follow me, okay."

Hunk ducked out from the doorway. It crumbled immediately in his absence, bringing more of the entrance down with it. "Uh, Lance?" he asked uneasily, catching up. "You know you picked up a Galra kid right?"

Lance blinked. Actually he hadn't. It had been too dim in the building to get a good look at the kids and he had been a bit more preoccupied with getting them out safely than anything else. He looked back, wondering which kid it was. In the sunlight it was easy to see.

Mira's skin was a light lilac, her hair a darker shade of purple. She had wide bat-like ears and Lance could see that her fingers ended in small claws. All typical Galra features, but it was her eyes that were particularly interesting. Most Galra Lance had seen had the same pupil-less yellow eyes; they were Galra eyes. Mira didn't have Galra eyes. Her eyes were yellow, but barely and it only made her bright blue irises stand out more.

He looked at the other kids too. The little boy looked like an Unilu with four arms and light blue-gray skin. The little girl was a species he had never seen before, she was covered in short, coffee-brown fur, black hair fell around rounded ears, and a fluffy tail waved behind her with every step. The toddler looked to be the same species as Nyma, he had orangey skin and green eyes, and a few buds that could possibly become tendrils grew out behind his conical ears. Lance peeked down at the baby, but his face was mostly covered by the blanket. He did get a glimpse of violet skin and was certain the kid was another Galra.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well what if somebody comes looking for her?"

Lance shifted his grip on the toddler a bit. He had dug his small fingers into the seams of his armor and was clinging tightly. "I don't think anyone is going to be looking for these kids. I'm pretty sure we just pulled them out of an orphanage."

They walked the rest of the way in relative silence. Lance half listened to the Paladin's conversations, but mostly he was watching the kids and making sure they didn't lag too far behind. He only had to answer "how much farther?" three times, which he considered impressive for such young children. When they finally did reach Blue the older kids stared at her in rapturous awe.

"Are we really riding in that?" the little boy asked.

Lance couldn't help but smile. "Yep, all the way to our castle space ship where you can meet our princess."

Mira and the little girl looked particularly pleased at that. "A real princess?" they asked.

They walked up to Blue and she lowered her head gently for the children. One of the kids let out a fearful squeal, gripping Lance's leg tightly. The other lions had appeared in the sky.

"It's okay, those are my friends." Lance soothed the kids. "Are you ready for your ride?"

"We'll meet you up there." Hunk said before jogging off to his own lion.

Lance shepherded the kids into his cockpit. He set the toddler down briefly and turned to Mira. "Mira, can you hold the little one for the trip? I need two hands to fly."

The little girl nodded, sat down, and held her arms out for the baby. Lance handed her the baby and made sure she was holding him right before he turned to the other two. "Now I need you two to make sure squirmy here doesn't wander off." He picked up the toddler and plopped him down between the two kids. "Can you do that? It's a very important job."

They both nodded silently, and each took one of the toddler's hands. Lance jumped into his seat and powered up his lion.

"Alright, Blue, nice and gentle for the kids."

The trip back to the castle was uneventful. The baby and toddler both fussed, but the older kids kept them secure. They were the last ones into the hangar and Lance could already see the other Paladins gathering. After Blue powered down, he resituated himself with the baby in one arm and the toddler on his hip and led the kids out of the lion.

The Paladins had all gathered near his lion, and Allura had joined them. Shiro and Allura were closest, Hunk, Keith, and Pidge hung back a little ways. Lance didn't mind the crowding because at that moment the toddler decided he was done behaving and began trying to wriggle out of Lance's grip. Fortunately Shiro was within arm's reach.

"Shiro, quick, take the baby. I'm losing my grip on the toddler."

Lance awkwardly passed the baby over just in time for him to have to drop to his knees to the toddler wouldn't fall. Both the toddler and the baby began to wail.

"Here, I'll take him." Allura volunteered, picking the toddler up and giving Lance a chance to rest his arms.

"Thanks, he's probably starving." Lance stood up, stretching his arms, and turned back to the older three. "They all are. I think some food, a bath, and clean clothes are in order." He paused, and wrinkled his nose. "Plus a diaper change for him and the baby. Who knows how long it's been since – Oh my God, Shiro! What are you doing? That's not how you hold a baby!" Lance immediately snatched the baby back, holding him close and trying to soothe him. "You were dropping his head, no wonder he was crying. Who taught you how to hold a baby?"

"Um… no one." Shiro blinked in surprise at the sudden absence of baby in his hands.

"You've got to support their heads. Especially when they're so small," Lance chided.

Allura listened to Lance lecture Shiro on proper infant handling mildly bemused. She had hardly expected Lance of all people to know much, if anything about taking care of babies, but the Paladin seemed to be full of surprises. She felt a small hand reach up and tug at her arm, and looked down into the bright blue eyes of the oldest girl. A Galra without yellow eyes… how curious.

"Are you really a princess?" she asked quietly.

She smiled at the child and crouched down to her level. "Yes I am. My name is Allura. What's yours?"

The child smiled back shyly. "I'm Mira." She looked around at the other Paladins; they were all being instructed on how to hold a baby by Lance. She leaned in closer to Allura to speak next. "I gotta go potty."

Allura smiled again. "Just a moment, Mira, we'll get you taken care of." She stood up and cleared her throat. "Paladins, I think it's time we make our guests comfortable."

Lance stopped his lecture and looked back at the kids. They were all dancing around a bit, looking anxious and scared.

"Right, yes. Shiro, can you take the older three to the bathroom? Hunk, can you go put together some food for the kids? Allura, I will need to find something for the little ones diapers, because these ones are really old. Keith, can you go find some clean clothes for the kids? T-shirts can work short term if everyone donates one. Pidge I need you to find Coran. Let's all meet in the kitchen."

Pidge was the first to react, not hiding her relief as she scooted away from the group. "Yep, find Coran, can do."

Keith left without a word.

"The poor little guys must be starving. I'll see what I can put together." Hunk said, already heading for the door.

"You can follow me." Shiro turned back to the kids, offering his right hand automatically for them. He hesitated a moment, pulled his hand back and offered his left instead. Mira grabbed the other kid's hands and followed after Shiro obediently.

Lance followed Allura on a hunt through the castle. He let her know that small towels would work, if there were any floating around, and he'd need something to hold the diapers together, like pins or tape. It took a few minutes of hunting, but they did eventually find something that would work.

Lance took care of the changing, which was hellish. The toddler was first. He sat still well enough – despite being hungry and upset—but Lance could tell that his diaper had to be at least two days old. The poor kid. He cleaned him as best as he could, but he definitely needed a bath later.

He expected much of the same from the baby. As Lance unwrapped him from his blanket cocoon, he confirmed his suspicions. The baby was definitely Galra, and more Galra than Mira appeared to be. He had violet skin and a tuft of deep indigo hair. His eyes were screwed up tightly while he cried, but Lance had a feeling they'd be Galra yellow. He was wearing only a diaper, and Lance saw a small tail curling around his leg. Small hands clenched in fists, and tiny feet kicked the air. If Lance was to guess the baby's age he'd put him at around four months… provided Galra babies aged like human babies.

The improvised diapers weren't pretty, and they were held together with tape, but Lance was satisfied. They'd serve their purpose for the time being. It was time to find some food for the kids. The baby was crying inconsolably and the toddler was on his way too. The toddler would be able to eat the food goo, he wasn't concerned about him. The baby, however, would need something liquid and nutritious.

Lance was pretty certain the castle didn't have infant formula stocked in its larders. He made do short term to keep the baby happy by wetting a clean cloth and letting him drink from that.

Everyone else was already waiting in the kitchen. The kids wandered about, looking at everything, touching everything within reach. The Paladins sat at the table, watching the kids with varying levels of wariness.

Hunk gave a cautious sniff as Lance sat next to him. "Oh good, they smell so much better," he exclaimed with relief.

"Yeah," Lance chuckled. "They'll be even better after we bathe them. But first we need to figure out a plan and feed them. Everyone except the baby should be good with solid food, so that's easy. The little one is too young though."

"Yeah, wait, Lance. I have to know. How do you know so much about child care?" Pidge asked from the end of the table.

"I've been watching cousins and nieces and nephews since I was like twelve." Lance shrugged casually. "Part of being the middle child who was old enough to take responsibility but young enough to not have other places to be." He looked around the table. "Has nobody else ever taken care of a child before?"

Shiro shrugged. "I watched my neighbor a few times when his parents worked late, but he was like ten so…"

"I took a Red Cross class once," Hunk offered. "But kids are sticky and smell weird, so I generally avoid them."

"Yeah, I don't do kids." Pidge stated.

Keith and Allura just shook their heads 'no.'

"Aside from when Allura was little, no." Coran explained. "She was older than these kids when I started watching her."

"Huh," Lance breathed with a slight nod of his head. He honestly hadn't expected, or realized, he was the only one on team Voltron who had dealt with little kids before. The next few days were going to be interesting. "That's okay, I have plenty of experience for everyone," he assured them with a grin. "I guess I'll be in charge."

A collective grimace passed over the group, but nobody said anything.

"First thing's first, we gotta get the kids settled in. Food is easy enough, the food goo will work great and I'll find something for the baby. Afterwards, they really need to be cleaned. I'm going to need help getting all five of the clean, so all hands on deck for that. There's no shortage of spare rooms in the castle for them to bunk in, they might all want to bunk together, they might not. But I imagine once they've eaten and they've been washed and put into something clean they'll fall asleep real fast. They've been through a lot in the last couple days. We can figure out what to do with them after they're settled in."

The others nodded in agreement.

"If some of you can go hunt down towels and such for the kids while they eat, that would be great. And like a tub to wash the babies in. And someone to get a room set up for them."

Pidge was quick to volunteer, she shot to her feet. "I can set up a room."

"I can help!" Keith added. He and Pidge made a quick retreat from the kitchen.

"Coran and I can find stuff for the kids," Shiro volunteered.

"Awesome. Hunk, can you set the kids up with some food. Allura, help me find something for the baby."

They went about their separate tasks. Allura and Lance scavenged through the kitchen storage. Allura pulled out a container of what she assured Lance was a type of milk. They scrounged some more and pulled together what could be turned into a makeshift bottle.

While Lance worked on feeding the baby, Allura went to see how Hunk was getting on feeding the kids. The older kids were sitting at the table waiting; the toddler had either been placed on top of the table or had crawled up there. She sat down in front the toddler, ready to help.

Hunk looked apologetic as he set the plates in front of them. "Sorry, but food goo is all we have at the moment."

"What is it?" Mira asked, poking at her plate with her spoon.

"It's … food."

"But what kind?"

"It's magical space food, Mira." Lance explained, walking back in. He sat next to the Unilu boy, the baby sucked quite happily on his dinner. "It doesn't taste bad."

Mira looked back and forth between her plate and the toddler, who was quite determined to not eat the goo Allura was trying to feed him. "You try it."

Suppressing a sigh, Lance took a clean spoon and scooped a bit off Mira's plate. Hunk had given the kids way too much anyway. He popped the bite into his mouth, making exaggerated yummy noises. The younger kids didn't need much more convincing. They were hungry. Mira watched the younger kids for a moment before deciding the goo _was_ okay to eat.

Truthfully, the goo wasn't as bad as it had been. Hunk had found a mix of spices and seasonings that made the goo much more palatable… either that or he had just gotten used to the taste.

Allura was still struggling to feed the toddler. He had goo all over his cheeks and none in his mouth. Lance scooped a bit of the goo onto his finger and swiped it onto the toddler's lips. As expected, the toddler tasted the goo, realized it was indeed food, and dug into his plate with both hands.

"Just let him play with it, it's easier," Lance advised. "He will eat his fill."

Lance let the kids eat for a bit before he began probing them for information. Aside from Mira he still didn't know any of their names. The younger two had clammed up in the presence of the other Paladins. They hadn't been very talkative in the first place, and they made no indication of sharing anything with Lance.

Luckily, Mira was becoming more trusting. "His name is Lekan," she informed Lance after he spent several minutes trying to talk to the Unilu boy. "And her name is Rylen." She nodded to the other girl.

"And what about our little friend?" Lance asked, gesturing to the toddler who was quite happily smearing goo all over his face and the table.

Mira shrugged. "Matrons didn't tell me his name; just to watch him."

"I see, and what about the baby?"

Mira shook her head. "They don't name those ones."

"They don't name the babies?"

"No, they don't name the ones who look like Galra."

"Why not?" Allura asked.

"They don't stay. When one like him shows up some Galra comes and takes them away to the Academy."

"The Academy?" Allura looked confused, she had never heard of a Galra Academy.

"All Galra go to the Academy."

"But you didn't."

Mira shrugged again, pushing some of her goo around. "Matrons said I can go when I'm older, but I'll have to pass a test."

Lance shared a look with Allura and Hunk. None of them had any idea that the Galra were taking and raising their own from childhood. It made sense, given the nature of the Empire, but still… Lance looked down to the baby in his arms. He was finishing up his dinner and was beginning to look sleepy. No name, no family, no future other than to be processed by Zarkon's war machine and turned into another enemy. Not much of an existence for a kid.

"How old are you, Mira?" Lance asked. She looked seven or eight, but Lance also knew Galra tended to be larger than humans.

"Six. Just had my birthday last week. Matron's made a cake!"

"And how old are you Lekan?"

The Unilu considered the question for a moment, before stating, quite uncertainly. "Four."

"And what about you, Rylen? How old are you?"

The little girl shyly held up three fingers. Lance smiled and nodded, about the ages he expected the kids to be. He looked at the toddler, and guessed him to be about a year and a half old. These kids were so young.

After the kids had eaten their fill, Lance led them to the showers. He had called all hands for this task. Most of the Paladins were waiting, the supplies gathered, most had even thought to change into soakable clothes.

"Where's Pidge?" he asked, noting the conspicuously absent Paladin.

"Can't find her," Shiro explained. "I think she's hiding in the vents."

Lance sighed. "Fine, she can help Coran and Allura. We probably shouldn't hang around this system for too long, that Galra might come back. Allura, Coran, can you get us someplace safe? Once we're safe, please come back and help."

The Alteans both assured Lance they would help however they could before hurrying off.

"Hunk, Keith, Shiro, we're gonna wash the kids. They really need it." He led the kids into the showers. They looked around wide eyed. "The older kids can probably wash themselves in the showers, just help however they need. Hunk, you're going to have the most important job. Because if these kids are anything like earth kids they will immediately make a break for freedom as soon as their clothes come off. Do not let them run around the castle naked. And hold Squirmy here for a minute."

Hunk awkwardly took the toddler, holding him at arm's length. "Oh, he's all sticky."

"He'll be un-sticky in a few minutes. I just need to go change. I'll take the baby with me. He's asleep anyway."

His fellow Paladins responded confidently in their ability to bathe the children. Lance was skeptical, but he left to finally change out of his armor. The scene he returned to in the showers was nothing short of chaos.

The kids had made of game of chasing each other between shower stalls and turning on the water. The Paladins were doing their best to keep up with them and turn the water off that the kids left running. The kids were all still fully clothed.

Shiro almost caught Rylen before she slipped out of his grasp with a delighted shriek. "How are they so fast, and full of energy?" he asked, exasperated.

"They're kids." Lance explained with a shrug.

He picked up one of the tubs Coran had found and carried it to a stall. While it filled with warm water he looked around. Washing the toddler would be a two hand job; he needed some way to hold the baby while he worked. Spying the stack of towels, he got an idea – a few quick knots later and he had a makeshift baby sling. It held the baby close to his chest and held him snug. It would do for the time being.

Hands now free, he scooped the toddler up from the floor and carried him over to the filling tub. He gently wrestled him out of his clothes and as soon as the tub was filled he turned off the water and plopped Squirmy into the tub. The toddler happily transitioned from running to splashing.

Lance let him play while he gently wiped away the remnants of food goo stuck to his cheeks. As expected, the kids did quickly tire of their game. They seemed more comfortable around the other Paladins too.

Lekan was looking at Shiro with much interest. Finally he stepped forward, reaching out for his hand. "Is that a robot hand?" he asked, turning Shiro's fingers over in his hands.

"Yeah, it is."

Lekan's eyes light up. "That's so cool! Is it super strong? Does it have any weapons? Can you kill bay guys with one touch?" a stream of rapid questions fell out of his mouth.

Shiro looked at Lance, the blue Paladin nodded encouragingly. "How about you take a bath, and I will answer all your questions," he offered, taking the opportunity to get the kid to wash.

"Okay! But … Matrons always helped."

Shiro smiled at the kid. "I think I can help today."

"Will you use your robot hand?"

"Sure," he chuckled.

At that moment, Rylen ran smack into Hunk, who was fast enough to catch her. He lifted the giggling child up into the air. She only playfully protested as Hunk carried her over to a shower too, after a few minutes though, Hunk picked up a tub for Rylen to wash in.

Mira was the only one left, and she eyed Keith shyly as she hovered near Lance.

"Mira, if you need any help, my friend Keith will be happy to help you." Lance told her.

She nodded silently, but walked over to Keith. Tugging on his hand gently, she asked him if he could help wash her hair, "like Matrons used to."

Finally, all the kids were being bathed with varying levels of assistance. Rylen only cried a little bit when Hunk let soap run into her eyes. He apologized so profusely that the girl ended up laughing just a few seconds later.

When the toddler was clean, Lance set him out of the tub and dumped it. The toddler was free for three seconds and he immediately made a break for the door. Lance tried to catch him, but the kid was slippery, and he couldn't move quickly with the baby.

Fortunately, Allura made a timely reappearance and caught the toddler just as he got to the door.

"Look who's all clean!" she exclaimed, scooping the toddler up. She smirked at Lance. "Nice sling, Lance."

"Hey, don't knock the baby sling until you've tried it," Lance shot back defensively.

Allura only rolled her eyes, smiling. "We're safe and far away from any known Galra territory. We should have some time to figure out what to do with the kids before we need to move on."

"Thanks. Can you get Squirmy here dried and into a clean diaper and into some clothes? I still need to wash the baby."

"Of course. Oh, and I brought a couple combs for the little girls." She looked around the showers. "Looks like things are going well."

Things were going well. Mira was sitting on the floor, letting Keith wash her hair. Rylen danced around gleefully while Hunk rinsed soap out of her fur. Lekan stood still while Shiro scrubbed his back. Lance half smiled, at least the kids seemed happy.

Lance refilled his tub with water for the baby, settled back down and began gently washing him. The baby protested to his sudden submersion in water, but only briefly. Lance talked to him quietly while he washed. The baby smiled up at him, and Lance felt that familiar warmth one gets when a baby smiles.

Honestly, he was half convinced that baby smiles could bring peace to the galaxy. Baby smiles and baby toes. They were just so small and adorable.

"Itty bitty, teeny tiny, little purple toe beans!" He whispered while he played with the baby's toes. Or he thought he whispered. A muffled snigger over his shoulder said otherwise.

"'Little purple toe beans.' Really Lance?" Keith mocked.

"Excuse you, but you have never seen baby toes. You have no place to judge." Lance shot back, lifting the baby out of the water. He wrapped him in a clean towel and stood up to join the others.

The other kids had been cleaned and dried and outfitted with donated t-shirts. Rylen was having her hair combed by Allura, Mira was waiting her turn. Shiro had taken over holding the toddler. Lekan was still asking him questions about his arm. They all seemed to be tiring a bit though. It was time to get them settled into bed.

Lance got the baby back into a diaper, and then for lack of better options tucked him back into his makeshift sling.

"Aright, kiddos, it's time to get you settled in."

"But 'm not sleepy." Rylen protested, yawning widely.

"Well, you don't have to fall asleep, but I think you need to spend some time sitting quietly." Lance reasoned, taking one of her hands. "Keith set up a room for you and everything."

He let Keith take the lead, the kids trailed behind them. Lance asked the other Paladins to find Pidge and Coran so they can all meet up to discuss the kids. Keith and Pidge had picked a good room for the kids, a little bigger than average, but it would have room for all the kids. They had found plenty of blankets and pillows, and had pulled extra mattresses into the room.

"Here is it," Lance announced brightly. "Mira, you're the oldest, you can take the bed if you'd like."

"Is this where we're staying?" Mira asked, wandering around the room.

"For tonight, yes, tomorrow we can find your own rooms."

"Never had my own room before…" Mira mused aloud, running her hands over the bed sheets.

The kids settled down quickly. Despite their protests, they were dead tired. The toddler barely had to be tucked in before he was drifting. Lekan and Rylen soon followed him on mattresses on the floor. Lance was going to leave the baby on a mattress in the far corner, but he started crying almost as soon as he was put down. Mira was the last one to settle, tucked into the bed, but even she was getting drowsy after she settled in.

"Can you leave the door open?" she asked meekly after Lance turned out the lights.

"Of course, sleep tight," Lance assured her gently before leaving the room. He stepped into the hall to find Keith waiting, leaning against a wall, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Never in a million years would I have expected you to be the baby obsessed one, Lance."

"I'm not 'baby obsessed'" Lance scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

"You were crying over the baby's toes in the showers."

"I wasn't crying." Lance began walking away. "Just because he's Galra doesn't mean he's not cute. Nor does it mean I can't show him a little affection. He's a baby."

"Yeah, sure." Keith followed him. "Everyone else is waiting in the lounge."

True to his word, everyone was waiting in the lounge. Even Pidge had crawled out of her hiding hole for this meeting. As they walked through the door, Hunk leaned over to Pidge and nudged her with his elbow.

"I told you he'd bring the baby. He won't put him down."

"That's not true, I tried to leave him with the others, but he just cried." Lance shot back defensively.

"You made a baby sling out of towels," Hunk deadpanned.

"I needed both hands."

"And you were crying over his toes while you washed him."

"See, told you. Crying." Keith smirked, elbowing Lance.

The Blue Paladin readied a sharp retort, but was interrupted.

"Can we get to the matter at hand, please?" Shiro cut off Lance's retort. "We've got five orphans relying on us." Lance shut his mouth and let Shiro continue. "Obviously we can't keep the kids for more than a few days. We should look for another orphanage that can take them."

Unanimous nods. Coran volunteered to look around and see what there was.

"What about Mira and the baby?" Allura asked.

"What about them?"

"Mira mentioned the Galra taking babies and young children away to an Academy. Presumably that's where they're trained for Zarkon's uses."

"So we find a place for the kids on a planet outside of the Empire. It might not protect them forever, but at least they'll have a shot of staying out of Zarkon's claws," Coran reasoned.

"How long do you think that'll take?" Shiro asked.

"If we're lucky, a few days, probably longer, though."

"Then we'll need supplies for the kids. Lance, you're our resident expert. Can you go on a supply run with Coran and get what we need?"

"I could, but I think I should stay here with the kids, at least for their first night. I'm the only one they really trust."

"That makes sense." Shiro nodded. "Any volunteers?"

"I'll go!" Pidge jumped up quickly.

"Alright then, we'll get close to a populated system and Pidge and Coran can go get supplies and look for information. Lance, can you draw up a list of things you'll need."

"Yeah, we shouldn't need too much to last the next few days."

"Great, now I think we should all take turns watching the kids – yes, Pidge, even you – to make it easier on everyone. We can go in pairs so nobody is stuck with all five at once…"

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Lance walked back to the kid's room slowly. The baby had finally fallen asleep and he wanted to make sure the other kids were alright before heading off to bed. He was discouraged to hear soft talking as he approached the room.

"You kids are supposed to be asleep by now," he told them, stopping in the doorway. Even the toddler was awake and sitting in Mira's lap.

"We can't sleep," Mira replied meekly.

"Why not? What's wrong?"

"Don't wanna be alone," Rylen admitted.

"Can you stay with us, Lance?" Lekan asked.

"Of course," he said softly. "Let me find something for the baby and I'll be right back."

He picked up a dry wash tub from the bathroom and padded it with a towel. It was just big enough to the baby. Not exactly a roomy crib, but at least for the night he wouldn't be rolled over or stepped on or fall off the bed. When he got back to the room he saw that Mira had vacated the bed and was setting up her blankets on a mattress.

"Oh, Mira, you can keep the bed. I don't mind."

"You're oldest, you get the bed," she reasoned, throwing Lance's own words back at him.

He smiled tiredly and thanked her. He set the baby at the foot of the bed in the space past the mattress. His box fit there perfectly. The other kids had snuggled back into their blankets; only the toddler was going to need help falling asleep. Lance scooped him up and sat on his bed, rocking him gently.

"Can you tell us a story?" Rylen asked quietly.

"Sure." Lance paused for a moment trying to pick something. His first thought was _Goodnight Moon_ , but that's didn't work so well without the book. He settled on Jack and the Beanstalk. Not that it mattered much, the kids fell asleep two minutes into the story. Even the toddler was out. Lance gently tucked him back into his bed.

He sat down on the floor, watching silently for a few minutes - just to be sure they were actually asleep this time. Then he'd get up and check back in with the others before he crashed himself. Just a few minutes to make sure the kids were going to be okay if he left for a bit. Five more minutes...

It had been several hours since anyone had seen Lance; Coran and Pidge were back with the requested supplies. Shiro went to hunt down Lance so he could make sure everything was in order. He finally found him in the room they had set aside for the kids, in the middle of the floor, tangled up in blankets, and tiny limbs. The toddler was crooked under one arm, Rylen under the other. Lekan was using Lance's stomach as a pillow and Mira was curled up nearby.

Shiro smiled and tiptoed away. Lance could check the supplies in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

Heeey, I got it posted in under a month woo! Truth be told, this chapter wasn't 100% ready, but up to the point it was was a good ending point. So I cut off the last bits (including a touching scene with Keith and one of the kids) and moved it over to the next chapter. I just wanted to get something posted tonight because it's my birthday week and I wanted to give you all a new chapter for it, and I also know I'm probably going to be stupid busy for the rest of the week. So here it is!

I wanna give a huge thank you to everyone who has read and faved, and followed, and reviewed this story. Honestly, you guys leave the nicest comments, I almost cried a couple times. I'm so glad you are enjoying this cute little story as much as I am enjoying writing it. (At last, I can put my 13+ years of childcare experience to good use in my writing, lol)

I hope you all like Chapter 2 as much as you liked Chapter 1!

Thanks again for reading!

-Becks

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Unfortunately for Lance, he didn't get the sleep he deserved. The baby woke up in the middle of the night and refused to settle again. Lance suspected that whatever they had given him for dinner hadn't quite agreed with him. So he took to roaming the halls with the baby, avoiding the others' rooms, and whiling the night away. He did find the supplies Coran and Pidge had procured in the lounge and spent some time organizing them.

Proper diapers in both the baby's and the toddler's sizes – Lance immediately changed the baby and it made him a little happier. A couple bottles and infant formula – which the baby refused. Some appropriate sized clothing for the baby and the toddler. Other myriad supplies he had asked for just in case of emergency. And something not on his list, what looked like the space version a baby sling – 'Guaranteed to fit all limbed species'. At least he wouldn't have to use the towels anymore.

And that was where Hunk found Lance the next morning. Wandering laps around the lounge, cradling the baby to his chest, talking quietly.

"Shhh… Pobre bebé. No llores, Mijo… Eres el bebé mas bonito en todo de la galaxia. Sí, es verdad... ¿Ya te sientes mejor?"

"G'morining, Lance." Hunk called out from the doorway.

"Buenos días, Hunk."

"Oh, uh, Inglés, por favor, Lance."

"¿Que? Oh, lo siento… sorry." Lance stifled a yawn and rubbed at his face.

"Long night?" Hunk asked, wandering over. "I haven't heard you get stuck in Spanish since that midterm week when you tried writing four papers in two days."

Lance shrugged. "Hey, I ended up getting C's or better on all those papers. So it worked out. Mijo's not feeling well. He's been up all night and won't eat anything. I think he liked the way Spanish sounds though."

"Mijo? Oh, Lance did you name him? You know you get too attached to things you name."

"He's a baby, Hunk, not a stray dog. And it's not really a name, more of a nickname."

"Well here, let me hold him for a bit, Allura and I are first on babysitting duty today. You should go get some sleep."

Lance yawned widely, and handed the baby over. "What time is it anyways?"

"A little past six."

"The other kids will probably be awake soon; I should go check on them."

"Allura's already on it."

"The baby hasn't eaten since last night, I tried giving him the bottle a few times, but he didn't want it. You might want to try again though. He seems to be feeling a little better."

"Yes, Lance, we've got this covered. Go sleep." Hunk practically pushed Lance out of the lounge.

"Come get me if you need anything!" Lance called over his shoulder.

"Go to bed, Lance." Hunk waved him off. He waited until Lance had disappeared before he held baby up and cooed. "Well, should we get you some breakfast? I bet you're hungry."

The baby gurgled back at him, and scrunched his face up looking quite uncomfortable.

"What's that face for?" Hunk asked, laughing. A few seconds later he had his answer as the baby filled his diaper. Hunk's face fell, but the baby smiled. "Yeah, I bet you're feeling much better now," he grumbled.

He tried not to breathe too deeply and half considered going after Lance. Instead, Hunk decided that this was something for Allura to take care of. He found the princess and the other kids in the kitchen. She was less than pleased when he held the baby out.

Allura stepped back, pressing a hand over her nose and mouth. "Oh no. I am not taking care of that, Hunk. You do it."

"I can't! Not unless you want a baby freshly coated in vomit."

They both shared a horrified look as the baby began to cry. The toddler joined in, sensing an equally uncomfortable soul. Allura tried to comfort him as well, to little avail. Over the cries, Hunk heard one of the older kids make a comment before the three of them dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"Maybe you should go get Lance," Allura suggested, less than pleased as the toddler wailed in her ears.

"Good idea!" Hunk was still holding the baby out at arm's length, like he was a bomb about to explode. He turned to chase after the blue Paladin.

"Wait, take the toddler too!" Allura held him out for Hunk.

"I don't have enough hands!"

"Well, carry them how Lance was."

Hunk hurried over, and tried to tuck the baby into the crook of his arm, like Lance had done yesterday. The baby was kicking and moving too much for him to get a good hold on him. "This isn't going to work!"

"What's going on?"

Hunk and Allura whipped around towards the door.

"Oh, Shiro, thank god!" Hunk rushed forward and pressed the baby into his arms. "Please take care of him, because we can't."

"Can't what?" Shiro asked, very confused. He caught a whiff of the baby and his mouth pressed into a very thin line. "Oh." The kids broke down into another fit of laughter. "What about Lance?"

"He was up all night and just went to bed…"

Shiro looked in between the crying babies, the laughing kids, and the incredibly uncomfortable adults. "Okay, fine, I'll change them. Allura, can you bring the toddler?"

"Oh thank you." Hunk snapped Shiro a salute. "Good luck, Captain."

Shiro rolled his eyes at Hunk but he and Allura made a hasty retreat from the kitchen.

Crisis averted, Hunk turned back to preparing breakfast for the older kids. They faced their breakfast food goo with much less enthusiasm than the night before.

"This again?" Lekan asked, pushing his goo around his plate.

"I know it's not very exciting. But it's tasty, and good for you, and it's this fun green color," Hunk offered weakly.

The kids were still unenthused.

"Also… you can make it into fun shapes," Hunk suggested. He took his own plate of food goo, made three little balls, and then stacked them on top of each other. "Look, it's a goo man."

The kids giggled. "Matrons never let us play with our food," Rylen commented.

"Well, you can play with this goo, so long as you don't make a big mess."

"Really?"

"Sure. Have fun with it." Hunk had a feeling he would be regretting this decision, but if it got the kids to eat breakfast then it would be worth it.

When Allura came back with the toddler and the baby the kids were still in the middle of creating goo sculptures. "Hunk, you were supposed to get them to eat breakfast, not play with it."

He immediately jumped to his own defense. "They'll eat it. It doesn't mean they can't have a little fun with it."

"Fine, but you're cleaning it up when they're done."

"Fair enough." Hunk plucked the baby out of Allura's arms. "If you want to feed Squirmy, I'll get the baby some breakfast. I bet you're hungry now, aren't you? Aren't you?" he cooed as the baby.

The baby smiled, kicked the air, and happily took to the bottle Hunk offered him. Hunk was pleasantly surprised when the kids left a much smaller mess than he anticipated. Giving them free reign to play with their food was a dangerous edge to walk if one didn't want to spend two hours scrubbing down the kitchen. He, honestly, had been expecting something on the scale of the goo dispenser malfunctioning again. The goo was mostly contained to the table… and the kids' hands… and their clothes.

Fortunately, Shiro and Coran wandered in just as the kids were finishing up their breakfast. Allura was quite happy for the extra hands as she roped them into finding clean clothes for the kids again. Hunk was left to clean the kitchen given that it was mostly his fault it was in that state. He didn't mind too much. It gave him time to think. He wasn't sure they'd be able to convince the kids to eat the goo again without another mess. Maybe they could swing by an inhabited planet and pick up some groceries. It would make things much easier for the next few days.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

Pidge was really glad she had gotten the easy job. The others were playing with the older two somewhere else in the ship. She was in charge of supervising nap time. Which meant she got to sit in a dark room with her laptop, and work while the younger three kids took their post-lunch nap. It was great. Shiro could get kicked and tackled while he wrestled with the older two to his heart's content. She just had to wait.

Lance had been iffy about whether Rylen would nap, but the little girl had curled up quite happily in her bed when it was declared nap time. She, the baby, and the toddler were currently fast asleep.

Lance and Hunk were still cleaning up the kitchen from the kid's lunch. It had been a lot messier than breakfast had been when Hunk gave the kids free rein to play with their food in an attempt to get them to eat the goo one more time. When she and Shiro had walked in for their turn on kid duty she thought the goo dispenser had gone haywire again. She was pretty sure Allura and Coran were trying to find a place to go and get some real food for the kids to eat. The goo was getting exponentially messier every meal.

Pidge stretched and checked the time. How long did kids nap for anyways? A few hours?

Her heart nearly stopped when a pair of eyes shone at her in the dark. It took her a second to realize that Rylen was awake and had snuck over.

"What're you doing?" the little girl asked, craning her neck to peek at Pidge's screen.

Pidge shushed her instantly; afraid she'd wake up the other two. "I'm programming a virus," she whispered back.

"Can I help?"

She blinked back at the little girl. "I… I guess. I'm not sure there's much you can-"

Rylen didn't wait for Pidge to finish before she climbed into her lap. Pidge awkwardly waited for her to get comfortable and stop moving around before she started working again. It was more than a little uncomfortable, trying to get her arms around Rylen to reach the keys. Pidge couldn't help but curse her short arms again as she craned her neck to look over Rylen's head and stretched her fingers as far as they would go to reach the more distant keys.

She got a few more lines of code in before Rylen sat forward, her small hands reaching for the keys. "Can I try?"

"Wait!" Pidge quickly covered the keys, her heart flying in a nervous flutter. Rylen jumped and drew her hands back at Pidge's outburst. "This is too important."

"Oh, okay."

Pidge could feel Rylen wilt a bit in her lap. Her ears drooped a bit and she hung her head, staring at her hands. She didn't have to see her face to know that she was really disappointed. She could picture the down cast puppy-eyes, ears pulled low, lip quivering look of dejection that was most likely on Rylen's face at the moment. She felt awful for snapping.

"Let me just save this. Then we can start something new together," she suggested.

The child brightened instantly. "Okay!"

Pidge pulled up a blank page and entered a short line of text. Then she pulled the laptop closer so Rylen could reach. The little girl happily entered in a line of gibberish. When she finished she went down to the next line.

"Your turn," she informed Pidge.

The paladin smiled and entered another line of text before giving Rylen another turn. They went on, back and forth, taking turns. Rylen snuggled deeper into Pidge lap, and Pidge found herself resting her chin on Rylen's head.

So maybe it wasn't as productive as having time to just sit and work, like she thought nap time would be like. But… maybe little kids weren't as bad as she had thought.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

"Really, Lance, you didn't have to come." Hunk muttered as they walked down a city street. "And you didn't have to bring Mijo."

"One," Lance began counting reasons off in his fingers, "he wouldn't settle with anyone else. Two, you couldn't pick boring, kid friendly food if your life depended on it. And three, he's part of our disguise."

"How exactly?"

"Nobody would expect the Paladins of Voltron to be grocery shopping with an infant in tow." Lance nudged Hunk with his elbow. "Besides, the chicks dig the baby sling."

On his left, Pidge scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."

Lance straightened his back and huffed defensively. "Hey, I got more dates when I took my siblings and nieces out to the park than I ever did anywhere else."

"Oh, so you had one date?" Pidge quipped back with a smirk.

Lance scowled at her. "Remind me why we brought you along."

"Coran and Allura were busy and I'm the only one who can really read the food labels."

"Plus you have the diaper bag," Hunk reminded her.

She scowled up at him and readjusted her shoulder straps. "Yes, and you commandeered my backpack for the diaper bag."

They stopped briefly as they came upon the store they were looking for. Neither of them had to understand the sign to know it was a grocery store. Somehow they still looked the same no matter which corner of the galaxy you were in.

"Remember, Hunk, the kids will eat simple things. Like chicken nuggets and tater tots and peanut butter and jelly. You know, stuff Pidge would eat." Lance explained, ignoring the affronted "hey!" from the Green Paladin.

"I don't know, Lance. Not all kids like simple stuff like that." Hunk countered as they stepped through the doors.

Lance rolled his eyes. "Not all kids have a professional chef for a parent either. The kids were in an orphanage, I doubt they were getting five-star quality meals."

Hunk shrugged and conceded. "True."

They stopped just inside the doors, taking in the sprawling expanse of the space-grocery store. The place was huge – even compared to the Earth superstores that they were all familiar with.

"Should we divide and conquer?" Pidge asked.

"Probably not the best idea. Remember what happened at the mall?" Hunk said pushing forward. "You two came home with a cow."

"We'll promise not to buy any livestock this time," Lance offered weakly.

Hunk shot him a disbelieving look, and took both him and Pidge by the shoulder and steered them off into the store. "You're not going to have a chance to."

It wasn't long before Lance and Pidge realized they were going to have to be the voices of reason in this trip. Hunk couldn't get two aisles into the produce section before he got sidetracked. They couldn't really blame him. Aside from goo, the fresh food they got their hands on was whatever they could forage from their current hiding planet, or whatever rations they could trade with non-hostile people. Even Pidge had to admit she was excited to get a look at alien groceries. But they were kind of pressed for time and on a budget.

As much as all of the Paladins would lament missing out on amazing meals, they had to buy for the kids. The grown-ups would have to such it up and eat food goo.

"Come on, Hunk, we've got to buy for the kids." Lance goaded him, pushing him away from the unappetizing smelling, spiny, oozing fruits or something Hunk had been eyeballing. "I see something that looks like apples. The kids might like those."

They walked over to a display of apple-sized fruits that had turquoise skin and hot pink flesh. They were certainly colorful, and looked much more appetizing than whatever Hunk had been looking at before. Fortunately there was a tray of slices for sampling. Each Paladin took a piece and popped it into their mouth with varying degrees of hesitance.

Lance liked it. The fruit had the consistency of watermelon, with a crisp snap in the skin. They were slightly sweet, and reminded him of a mixture of plum, carrot, goat cheese, and nutmeg. Not a hateful flavor combination; certainly better than some of the concoctions Coran had whipped up. Even Pidge seemed to like it. They bagged up a bunch for the kids and moved on.

Despite the expansive selection in the store, and the completely alien labels, they ended up finding food for the kids much easier than they expected. Pidge helped a lot, but it seemed that even aliens advertise their products for kids just as aggressively as they do on Earth. Cartoon characters, bright colors, fun names, and low placement on shelves made their job so much easier.

Though… they still had to trek through five miles of store to find what they were looking for. Even Hunk was losing his enthusiasm by the time they hit what appeared to be the middle of the store. Mijo had finished his nap and needed a break from the sling, and a diaper change. Hunk was so glad Lance was here to take care of him this time. He wasn't looking forward to a repeat performance of this morning.

But they had to find that bathrooms somewhere in the massive store. It only took ten minutes. Lance immediately went to take care of Mijo. Hunk and Pidge took turns watching the cart while the other made a pit stop as well. It wasn't like they wanted to hunt down the bathrooms again. They were both done before Lance was, and were left to wait awkwardly outside of the bathrooms.

Suddenly, Hunk gasped and jumped behind Pidge. "Quick, hide me!" he whispered shrilly.

"What's wrong now?" she snapped.

"It's Sal."

"Who?"

"Sal, the guy who tried enslaving me at the space mall."

"Maybe he won't recognize you."

"Can't recognize me if he can't see me!" Hunk gripped Pidge's shoulders and dragged her down a random aisle.

Pidge was helpless but to be hauled through the store as Hunk took turns at random to avoid Sal. "What about Lance? We're supposed to wait for him."

"We'll go back and meet up with him. I just want to make sure we lose Sal."

Pidge rolled her eyes and dug in her heels. "How are we going to find him if we don't know where we are?"

Hunk finally stopped in an aisle full of what looked disturbingly like various animal (she hoped) body parts pickled in different colored juices. Pidge quelled her gag reflex and looked around, gesturing with wide arms. "And where exactly are the bathrooms?"

"Easy, they're that way!" Hunk pointed over her shoulder. His hand fell a bit and he looked around. "Or… maybe this way?" he dropped his hand to his side with a sheepish "Oops."

Pidge rolled her eyes and tossed her hands in the air in exasperation. "Great! We're lost in the middle of Grossville, in an alien grocery store, with Lance, our money, and the baby nowhere to be found. And you know what else?"

Hunk was afraid to ask. "What?"

"You left the cart behind."

Lance was quite confused when he walked out of the bathroom with a very happy baby only to find very absent teammates. He reclaimed their abandoned cart and peeked into the closest few aisles. Maybe Hunk had seen something interesting and went to check it out.

Nothing.

He hadn't been that slow. They couldn't have gone too far without taking the cart. He was so preoccupied with looking for his missing teammates that he accidentally bumped into someone else's cart.

"Oh, shoot, sorry, my bad." He looked up at a large and rather unhappy looking Galra scowling down at him. He looked somewhat familiar, but Lance wasn't sticking around to get a better look. He ducked his head and backed away and found a different aisle to looks for his friends.

After ten minutes of fruitless searching, Lance was getting desperate. Had something happened to them? Or were they just lost? He was almost ready to turn back towards the bathrooms, just in case the others had doubled back when he caught sight of a kiosk a little ways away. Hopefully he could make an announcement.

He walked up to the very cute Unilu girl manning the counter, put on his most charming smile, and leaned in close. "Excuse me, I've lost my friends. Do you know where I can go to make an announcement for them?"

The girl smiled back, flashing pearly white, sharp teeth. "Right here, actually." She picked up a rectangular device and handed it over to Lance.

"Thanks." The Paladin flashed her another winning smile. He picked up the device and found what he hoped was the microphone. He cleared his throat and made an announcement. "Hunk. Pidge. Good luck you little shits. I'm taking the baby and the food and leaving you two behind. You can walk home."

The kiosk girl stifled a laugh behind her hand and took the microphone back from Lance. "That's one of the more entertaining announcements I've heard."

"Well, my friends had very simple instructions, stay together. Instead they went and got lost."

"They sound pretty hopeless."

"They'd be lost without me," Lance lamented.

The girl stifled another laugh. "If they're that bad, we can light the beacon."

"Oh?" Lance raised a curious brow. "You probably should. They'll never find us otherwise."

The Unilu flipped a switch and suddenly series of blindingly bright lights flew up from the roof of the kiosk and crawled up a skinny tower where a larger series of lights flashed on and off.

Lance shaded his eyes and laughed. "Yeah, they won't be able to miss that."

"People always seem to get lost around this area of the store." The girl leaned farther over the counter and reached a hand out for the baby sling. She pulled the fabric back a couple inches and looked Mijo right in the eye. "What a cutie," she cooed at the baby. "Is he yours?"

"No, no, not mine. I'm just watching him for a friend." Lance lifted Mijo out of the sling so she could get a better look at him.

"You're a caretaker, huh?" she asked, reaching out to slip a finger into Mijo's hand.

"Something like that, yeah." Lace held Mijo towards her. "Would you like to hold him?"

"I shouldn't." The girl's eyes darted around. "But I will. He's too cute to resist!" She plucked Mijo out of Lance's arms and began rocking him gently. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know, being a caretaker. In this day and age, everyone works for the Galra. The only difference is whether a family hires you privately, or you fall under their corporations."

"I guess I'm still getting used to it," Lance shrugged.

"Recently assimilated planet?"

"Something like that."

It took ten minutes for Pidge and Hunk to finally get to Lance. They were less than pleased to see him flirting with the girl at the counter, sitting Mijo on the counter between them. But the baby was laughing and seemed quite happy. Hunk and Pidge had agreed to not tell Lance why exactly they got lost, nor mention the moment when Hunk cried because he found space truffles as big as his head and they were dirt cheap _and they couldn't get any_. By this point, everyone was ready to finish up this trip and go home.

"Ah! My children, you have returned!" Lance called to them as they approached. This drew a laugh from the Unilu girl at the counter. Lance tucked Mijo back into the sling – first giving the girl an opportunity to say good bye to the baby – thanked her for her help and the good company, and steered his friends back into the aisles.

"You didn't manage to find out anything useful while you were flirting, did you?" Pidge grumbled. Her feet were tired and her legs were sore from trekking all across the store.

"I know where to go to get the rest of the food we're looking for." Lance bragged. "I don't suppose you two found anything for the kids while you were exploring."

"No, but we definitely need to come back here one day," Hunk insisted. "So where are we going?"

"Let's see," Lance stopped and looked around.

Pidge scoffed. "You didn't forget already did you?"

"Actually," Lance dug into his pocket. "I wrote down the aisle numbers." He waved the scrap of paper in Pidge's face. "Aaaaand, I got her number! Score one for the baby charm!"

* * *

If you want to know how exactly Shiro's experience changing the babies' diapers went, just look up funny videos of dads changing diapers. Like Shiro went full out protection in his Paladin armor and helmet fully sealed just so he didn't have to smell anything (and he still walked away traumatized and resolved to leave all the changing to Lance) maybe one day I'll get around to writing up a shirt bit about the ordeal. We'll have to see how well my muse cooperates.

Thanks again for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

More flipping adorable Paladin and kid shenenigans!

Sorry for the post delay. I've had another fic get way out of hand and monopolize most of my writing time. Fear not! Weekend guests will absolutely get finished with a wonderfully happy ending! Probably another 2 chapters I think!

Thanks everyone for reading and leaving reviews and faves! You guys are the best! I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
-Becks

* * *

.

 **Chapter 3**

.

The Paladins had quickly (and happily) learned that there were some games that are truly universal amongst all children. Tag was one; along with The Floor is Lava, Hide and Seek, and Don't Let the Thing Touch the Floor. All these games were easy to play with the added benefit if exhausting the kids and releasing a lot of their pent up energy. Tag was by far the most popular. The older kids enjoyed it immensely, the Paladins not so much, the toddler just liked being included.

Another apparent universal truth: when playing tag with grown-ups it quickly devolves into "keep away from the Paladins."

After their first day, the kids had expanded outside of the lounge. Coran had set the castle's security to close off the more dangerous parts of the castle, so the kids could mostly wander freely.

The free Paladins were doing their best to keep up with the kids. Allura was taking her shift on the Bridge. Shiro had been called away from their current game of tag for some unknown reason. Coran was taking his turn watching Mijo. That left four Paladins chasing after four kids. Though, Pidge was probably just walking after the toddler and making sure he didn't get lost or hurt. She didn't _do_ tag.

Hunk had managed to separate Mira from the rest of the group. She was making a break for the lounge's home base but that was still quite a ways away. Hunk would catch her. She may be faster, but he had more stamina.

She giggled madly as Hunk missed tagging her and sprinted away. Hunk stopped briefly to catch his breath watched her turn a corner – maybe he had been mistaken about having more stamina. He took one last breath and chased after her. Suddenly, Mira shrieked fearfully and came running back around the corner. She made a beeline for Hunk and hid behind him, gripping his shirt tightly.

"Mira, wait!" Hunk heard Shiro call after her.

Hunk had a brief moment of confusion before Shiro rounded the corner, he wasn't alone. The Blade had paid a visit.

Whoever it was hadn't removed his helmet yet. Hunk understood Mira's reaction. Those three glowing eyes were unnerving to him too, and he had the benefit of knowing there was a person behind them.

"It's okay Mira. This is a friend of ours." Hunk twisted around and tried to comfort her. Mira said nothing, just shook her head and buried her face in Hunk's shirt. He offered a shrug to Shiro and the Galra.

The Blade reached up and touched his mask. It dissolved away and Hunk recognized Kolivan's stern glare. Hunk was half convinced the Galra's face was stuck that way. He'd never seen him wear a different expression.

"It was just a mask, Mira. Do you want to see?" Hunk asked, sidestepping a little to let Mira have a chance to look.

She mirrored his steps and kept her face buried in his shirt. "No."

"We'll go to the bridge." Shiro said loudly, mostly to assure Mira that they would be leaving.

.

Shiro led Kolivan off into the ship.

"You Paladins have been quite prolific since we last met."

Shiro may have heard the faintest trace of humor in the Galra's words. "Ha, yeah right." He deadpanned. "We pulled Mira and four others from a bombed out orphanage. We're looking for someplace to take them."

"Liara?"

"Yeah… Why would Zarkon destroy an entire city like that? That was a planet under his control. They were _his_ people."

"Liara ran out of its useful resources centuries ago. The only use the planet had to him was as a source of labor. He would hold no qualms about destroying the entire planet if it came down to it."

"Destroying cities and planets is a good way to sow dissent."

"It's a calculated risk. It spreads fear more than dissention. Have you tried communicating with any other cities on Liara?"

"We sent messages and beacons to the other cities when we found the children. None have responded."

"Zarkon's forces obliterated an entire city for possibly harboring a rebel cell. The message was clear. The planet leadership would not risk communicating with Voltron." Kolivan walked for a moment in silence. Shiro couldn't think of anything to add. "Tell me about these children. The girl we saw is Galra, is she not?"

"Mira is part Galra, as far as we can tell. There's an infant too who is Galra. The other three aren't."

"It's unusual that a child as old as Mira has not been taken to the Academy yet. Zarkon may be a purist, but even hybrids have a place at the Academy. Galra blood is Galra blood."

"What is this Academy? Mira mentioned it, but didn't know much else other than they took Galra kids."

"All Galra go to the Academy. Either from birth or early childhood they are trained and educated and evaluated for how they fit best in Zarkon's empire."

"It's a military academy?"

"Yes and no. Every student receives basic combat and weapons training. Those that are suitable for a military career receive more. Others evaluated for different skills are trained as such. Medical, engineering, logistics, and the like."

"Either way they're forced into Zarkon's machine."

"Technically no. When one comes of age they are given the choice of striking out on their own. No resources, no support, nothing to fall back on. Or they can fall into the position they've been trained for and serve Zarkon. It's not much of a choice, but some choose their freedom."

Shiro hummed in reply as they reached the bridge. Allura greeted Kolivan, and moved to push away the video feeds that were hovering above her command station. Shiro half smiled, even Allura liked keeping an eye on the kids when it wasn't her turn to watch them.

He could see Hunk had brought Mira back to the lounge where Coran was playing with the baby. Pidge was following the toddler around the kitchens. And somehow Keith and Lance had moved from playing tag with Lekan and Rylen to hide-and-seek in the training deck. Currently Lance was the seeker and Keith had scaled the walls to hide in a corner. Rylen and Lekan were being decidedly unhelpful in assisting Lance with finding Keith.

"Tell me about the other children." Kolivan requested, his eyes on the unsuccessfully banished videos.

"Lekan is the Unilu boy. Rylen is the little girl. We don't know the toddler's name, or the baby's." Shiro pointed out the children on the screens.

"While you're here, Kolivan, I'd like to get your opinion on good places to take the children." Allura said, pulling the video feeds back to the forefront. "You're more familiar with the current state of the universe than we are. Do you know of anywhere safe we could take them?" She of everyone was possibly most anxious to find a place for the children.

Kolivan studied the video feed of Hunk chasing Mira around the lounge. His brow furrowed into a grim line. "You won't find a place for the Galra children." He stated bluntly, turning back to Allura and Shiro. "If you return them to an Empire's planet, they will be sent to the Academy immediately. No independent planet or colony will take them. The other children will surely be taken in anywhere you leave them, but Galra children… the independents won't tolerate them."

"How would you know?' Allura asked, a slight defensive edge in her voice. "Surely there has to be someone out there who would take in Mira and the baby."

"They may be taken in as a formality, but I assure you as soon as Voltron leaves those children will be fed right into Zarkon's machine."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Allura crossed her arms tightly. "We won't abandon them, and we can't let them stay here in the castle long term."

"Let me take them."

Kolivan's answer surprised both Shiro and the princess.

"What?" the Black Paladin asked, quite unsure if he had heard correctly.

"The Blade has a long history of collecting the unwanted orphans and hybrids. They would grow up safe from Zarkon's grasp."

Shiro _did not_ like that suggestion. All respect to the Blade and the war they've been fighting against Zarkon but really… It was just trading one war machine for the other. Either way the kids would be fed through and come out warriors or cannon fodder in the end. He certainly didn't want the kids going to Zarkon's side. He would hate to see Mira at the other end of his bayard in another ten years. And Mijo… that sweet baby didn't deserve to grow up unloved in a cold military academy. At the same time, the thought of the children playing the same roles, but with Marmora crests on their armor didn't sound any better.

Still, he held his tongue and looked to Allura. He could tell the Altean didn't like that suggestion any more than he did. It was a subtle change in her face, a tightening of her lips and a flare of her cheek spots – he doubted Kolivan would have noticed.

When she spoke her tone was as even as ever. "The children are quite attached to one another. We'd like to avoid separating them until absolutely necessary. Can we give you an answer when we find a home for the other children?"

It wasn't a solid "no." Shiro and Allura both knew that the odds of finding families or orphanages willing to take Mira and the baby without immediately turning them over to Zarkon's forces would be slim to none. But it was a smart decision to keep their options open, because in the long run the Blade of Marmora would be a much better option that the Galra Academy. Still, it was a big universe. There had to be _someone_ out there who would take the Galra kids and keep them safe.

Kolivan nodded slightly. "Of course, Princess." He turned fully away from the videos. "Now, back to my original business for visiting…"

.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

.

Keith woke up suddenly, unsure how but certain someone was standing over his bed. Suddenly a small finger poked his shoulder. He sat up, reaching for the light and came face to face with "Mira? What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

The girl was carrying her pillow and her blanket dragged behind her on the floor. She looked away shyly. "The baby keeps crying and Lekan keeps kicking me. Lance said I could stay in his room."

"Oh, his is the next one."

"Okay." Mira spoke softly and nodded, but looked reluctant to leave.

Keith quirked a curious eyebrow at her. "Do you want me to show you?"

Mira nodded silently. Keith took her hand and walked her over to Lance's room. He got her settled into bed and left her with the door open. As he crawled back into his own bed, he checked the time – just past midnight by the castle's clock. It didn't take long for him to fall back asleep.

He was woken again a short time later by the same sense that someone was standing over him. He didn't even bother waiting for them to poke his shoulder to wake him. He sat up, reaching for the lights, and saw Mira standing by his bedside, still clutching her pillow, still dragging her blanket behind. Her ears were pulled low and she looked rather upset.

"Is something wrong?"

Mira's head bobbled in between a nod and a shake. Keith was confused but waited for her to speak. "I had a bad dream."

"Do you want to go back to the others?"

"Not really."

"Do you need a glass of water? Or… a night light?"

"Not really." Her ears pulled even lower.

"Oh…" Keith finally realized what she was trying to ask. "Do you want to stay with me?"

Mira nodded and clutched her pillow tighter.

"Yeah, I guess that's okay. Let me go find a spare -" he didn't get to finish that thought as Mira climbed over him and wedged herself between him and the wall. "Or we'll just do that..."

Mira settled herself down with her pillow. Keith scooted a few inches over to give her space and pulled her blanket over her. She turned away from Keith, said nothing, and curled up tight. It was obvious that her nightmare was still bothering her.

"Mira, you said you had a bad dream. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Mira told the wall.

"Are you sure? It might help you feel better."

"Don't wanna."

Keith figured it wasn't worth pressing the subject. It may have just been a childish nightmare. He remembered having a series of recurring dreams when he was around her age about being chased by a monster. They were scary at the time, but he knew they weren't real as soon as he woke up. Some kids just didn't need or want their nightmares chased away by a grown-up's words.

"Is it okay if I turn off the light?"

"Yeah."

Keith hit the light and laid down flat on his back. He folded his hands on his chest and waited awkwardly. Would it be alright if he carried her over to Lance's room after she fell asleep? How long would it take Mira to fall asleep? He waited maybe five minutes. Mira's breathing was slow and even and she had barely twitched since she curled up. Keith found himself drifting off.

"I'm scared of the Galra." Mira whispered.

Keith's eyes shot open. Was he supposed to respond? Or did Mira think he was asleep? No, he definitely needed to respond. "It's okay to be afraid, Mira." He sat up slowly and placed a gentle had on her shoulder.

"When the loud noises and the shaking came, Matrons said it was the Galra. And when they came for the little ones, Matrons were always unhappy..." Mira curled up a little tighter. Keith could tell she was crying even if she was trying to hide it. He rubbed her back, hoping it would comfort her. "Is it bad to be Galra?"

Keith's stomach dropped and his chest tightened. "No, Mira. Not at all." He insisted. "People choose whether they want to do good or bad things. I know a lot of good people who are Galra, just as I know plenty of bad people who aren't Galra."

Mira seemed unconvinced. "Nobody likes Galra though. The other kids would say things. Like I'm bad, and nobody will want me because I'm Galra."

"That's not true, Mira."

"Momma didn't want me. Matrons didn't think I remember, but she left one day and never came back."

Keith frowned and pulled his hand back into his lap. He and Mira had a lot more in common than he thought. "Yeah, I know how that feels."

Mira sniffed and sat up, wiping her eyes. Her voice was quiet and wavering. "I don't think I want to go to the Academy, but Matrons said I would have to."

"Oh, come here," Keith pulled the girl in for a one armed hug.

Mira wasn't comforted by just his one armed hug and she climbed into his lap. Keith wasn't going to stop her. Hugs weren't exactly his thing, but damn it, if Mira needed a hug, she was going to get a hug. She tucked her head under his chin and snuggled into his arms. She was quiet for several minutes, just fidgeted with her hands, the blanket, Keith's hand, anything she could touch.

"I don't want to be Galra." She muttered after a long session of twisting a strand of hair around her fingers.

"There's nothing wrong with being Galra." Keith insisted gently. "Being part Galra doesn't make you bad. And you don't have to go to the Academy if you don't want to. You get to choose what you become, Mira."

"All Galra go to the Academy."

"I didn't."

She looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're part Galra?" she asked in disbelief.

Keith hummed and nodded. "Mm-hmm. My human side shows more than my Galra side, but it is in my blood." He reached over to his bedside and picked up his Marmoran blade. He carefully unsheathed it and held it out for Mira to look at. "Do you recognize this symbol?"

"No."

"It's from the Blade of Marmora. This dagger has special powers that only works for Galra. Look." Keith concentrated for a second and the blade grew. Mira gasped in surprise and Keith let the blade return to its normal size after a few seconds.

"Can I see?" the little girl asked breathlessly.

Keith hesitated for a moment, but held it closer to Mira. "Be very, very careful. It's sharp."

Mira reached out and traced a finger down the flat edge of the blade. The purple engravings glowed brighter at her touch, like they did when the blade shifted form. She lingered for a moment on the Blade's symbol before pulling her hand back from the cold metal. He had a suspicion that if he allowed her to hold the dagger she would be able to turn it into a sword as well.

Maybe another time though… in the safety of the training room… under very, very close supervision. He was fairly certain the Lance would skin him alive with this very dagger if he let Mira hurt herself on it. Instead, Keith slid the blade back into its sheath and set it back at his bedside.

"You see, I'm part Galra, just like you."

Mira looked away and tucked her head under his chin again. "But you don't _look_ Galra," she muttered.

"I know, but it hasn't always been easy. When we found out, the others were shocked, and people weren't always friendly when they learned I am part Galra. It would the same on my home planet. People would be very unfriendly when they realized I was part Galra." Keith paused, trying to figure out where he was going with this. He didn't think bring up specifics would help Mira feel better. He switched tactics. "Do you remember the visitor we had on the ship today?"

"The scary mask," Mira mumbled, twisting her blanket in her hands.

"Yes, Kolivan. You met him and saw he was Galra."

Mira nodded. "Hunk said he was a friend… but he didn't look very nice."

Keith couldn't help but chuckle. "He is a friend of ours. He and a bunch of other Galra are working together to help us fight Zarkon. They're the good guys. They're heroes like Voltron."

"Really?" Keith could head the tinge of awe in Mira's voice as she paused her blanket twisting. "Do you think I might be able to see them one day?"

"Maybe one day, kiddo." Keith thought back to what Shiro had told them about the Blade's offer to take the Galra children. That day might come sooner rather than later if they couldn't find someplace peaceful for all of the kids.

Mira yawned widely, and Keith thought he heard her jaw pop. It was late, she needed to go back to sleep. Keith echoed her yawn. They both needed to go back to sleep.

Mira crawled off his lap and curled up under her blanket. "Can you tell me more about the good Galra?"

Keith made sure she was all tucked in before he lay back down again. "Let me tell you about a Galra we knew named Thace…" He wasn't much of a story teller, but his talking did the trick anyway. Mira was snoring softly in a matter of minutes and Keith followed her off to sleep shortly after.

.

 **XXXXXXXXXX**

.

Lance yawned widely as he opened his bedroom door. Another night with the kids had meant another mostly sleepless night for him. Mijo still wasn't sleeping through the night, and Lekan had taken over an hour to actually settle down and stop kicking the others. He should have followed Mira when he sent her over to his room. He might have slept more than four hours.

It was still relatively early, and he was pretty sure that Mira would still be asleep. But he wanted to check on her and make sure she had actually made it to his room last night. He had to take a moment to rub the tears from his eyes after the jaw-splitting yawn passed. He looked to his bed, expecting to find a small, Mira-shaped lump under the covers, still sound asleep.

When he saw his bed was empty, and didn't even look like it had been slept in at all, his mind flew into a panic. Had Mira gotten lost in the dark? Was she curled up in some scary corner of the castle, frightened and alone? He knew he should have walked her to his room last night!

He turned over the covers, just to be sure Mira wasn't really good at hiding, and then ran out into the hall. Which way would she have come from? His eyes fell on Keith's closed door. It was unlikely, but maybe the Red Paladin had seen Mira last night.

He frantically jammed his finger onto the door's open button and flew into the room. "Keith, have you-oooooooooh!" Lance clutched at his heart; his words rising up into a hushed squeal.

Oh god, he would give _ANYTHING_ for a camera right now.

Mira was curled up and sleeping soundly beneath her blanket. She had wedged herself between Keith and the wall, and was clearly taking up most of the bed space. Keith on the other hand was barely on the mattress anymore, but he was curled protectively around the little girl with one arm crossed over her. Mira was holding his hand tightly in her sleep.

Lance had every intention of just sneaking back out of the room and leaving the other two to sleep. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't exactly made a quiet entrance.

"Lance?" Keith asked, sitting up sleepily. "What's wrong? Is there an emergency?"

"I must tell everyone." Lance whispered with evil glee before running out of the room.

"Lance, no!" Keith tumbled out of bed and gave chase.

Lance had a decent head start, but Keith was a faster runner. They chased their way through the castle and towards the kitchen.

"You guys, I just saw the absolute _cutest_ thing!" Lance called out as they approached the open kitchen doors.

"Noooo!" Keith shouted, making a flying tackle for Lance. He caught him by the ankles and they both went down. Too little, too late. They may have both face-planted but Hunk, Shiro, and Allura were in the kitchen with the rest of the kids.

"What the hey, guys?" Hunk asked, helping Lance to his feet.

The Blue Paladin was grinning madly as he dusted himself off. Through a bought of laughter, he gleefully informed the others of what he had seen.

Keith groaned and hid his burning face against the kitchen floor. He completely ignored Shiro's attempts to help him up. What did it really matter if Lance told the others? They had been together long enough. It's not like he had a reputation to uphold anymore. Or pride. Or dignity. But it was still a matter of principle.

"She had a nightmare. I was just comforting her." Keith explained, finally dragging himself up to his feet.

"Aww, Keith that's so sweet." Hunk said with a big grin, holding his own hand over his heart.

"You should have seen it," Lance mooned with exaggerated sweetness. "It was, hands down, the most precious thing I've ever laid eyes on."

Keith's cheeks flared an even deeper red. He heard Shiro barely contain his own laughter beside him. Even Allura was hiding her giggles behind her hand. Even the other kids were laughing. Keith dropped his head into his hand and wished for nothing more than to sink into the floor and disappear entirely.


	4. Chapter 4

*slides this across the table in hopes you won't realize it's 9 months late*

Sorry for the SUPER long delay guys. I got really distracted with another huge fic of mine that I just wrapped up a few weeks back. And this chapter was being non-cooperative.

I was looking it over and trying to make the second half work, but it wasn't happening. So I just cut it in half.

It's short, but it's cute!

I hope you all enjoy!

-Becks

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

.

.

Allura thought the ship had gone suspiciously quiet. Over the course of the last few days, she had grown somewhat accustomed to hearing one child or another shrieking or running through the halls of the castle at every hour of the day. It was still annoying, and grating on her nerves, but she was getting used to it.

Lance had finally crashed. After almost three days of next to no sleep, he had sat down on a couch "just for a minute, I promise" and had almost instantly fallen asleep. Nothing short of an attack on the castle would wake him, and none of the Paladins particularly wanted to. He had thrown himself fully into caring for the children ever since they had arrived on the ship. He did deserve some rest.

Shiro, Hunk, and Keith had managed to shepherd the older children to the training deck so they could run around without waking up Lance while Coran took his turn entertaining the baby. Judging by the ruckus coming through the training deck doors, they were having all sorts of fun.

Allura stepped inside and tried not to wince at the varying shouts and shrieks that met her ears. What she saw could best be described as a gentle game of King of the Mountain. Or… perhaps the Paladins were just letting the children use them as living jungle gyms.

Lekan was doing his best to climb all over Shiro and Keith while Hunk had the toddler hoisted on his shoulders, loudly declaring him "King of the Galaxy." The toddler squealed happily and then tried to fling himself off of Hunk's shoulders. Fortunately, he tumbled right into Shiro's arms. Unfortunately, Lekan took that exact moment to launch himself at Shiro's back. The Black Paladin had a brief moment of panic as he began to fall. Luckily, Keith was close enough to grab the toddler quickly and set him back on his own two feet before he was turned into a toddler pancake.

Lekan crowed happily and leapt off Shiro's back, but the paladin only had a brief moment of respite before Keith and Hunk shared a wicked look and declared a "dogpile." Allura winced sympathetically as two paladins, Lekan, and the toddler all piled onto Shiro. But… where were Rylen and Mira?

The little girls should be here too, but they weren't playing with the others. A quick flare of annoyance shot through Allura. Had the boys just completely ignored the girls so they could rough house? What if they had wandered off into the ship and gotten lost or hurt?

Her irritation was instantly quelled as she looked to her left and saw the two girls sitting together, a ways away from the rough housing. Allura frowned and walked over to the girls. They were playing some game with their hands that included clapping to a rhythm, but Allura didn't recognize it.

"Have you girls been sitting here by yourself this whole time?" Allura asked, crouching down beside them.

"No, but we got bored with their game," Mira explained turning to face Allura. She had a nasty looking bruise forming on her cheek.

"Oh, Mira, you've got a bruise!" Allura gasped.

"I know!" the child said, sounding more excited than anything.

"Didn't you tell the others?"

"Yeah. Hunk said it was a battle scar. Battle scars are cool!"

"Oh, sweetie, we can go put something on that so it gets better."

"But it doesn't hurt." Mira was all smiles, so Allura took her word for it.

"Lekan kept pulling my tail, so I didn't wanna play anymore." Rylen explained quietly, pulling her tufted tail in her lap and stroking it gently. Then she added with a wrinkle of her nose, "And boys are smelly."

Allura couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, yes they are. I think what we need is some girl time. No boys allowed," she decreed, standing up and extending her hand for the children.

"Yeah!" Mira jumped to her feet and pulled on Allura's hand.

"Can we be princesses too?" Rylen asked, taking the other hand.

"Of course you can." Allura led the way to the door. "We can find some pretty dresses, and do our hair. You'll look just like princesses when we're done."

"Pidge too?" Rylen asked as they stepped into the hallway.

Allura paused, but turned her feet towards the engine room where she was pretty certain Pidge was hiding. "Well it certainly won't hurt to ask if she'd like to join us." The Green Paladin had never overtly expressed any desire to express her feminine side, but that didn't mean she wouldn't want to. Particularly if Rylen asked. Everyone knew that Pidge was the little girl's favorite and vice versa.

Unsurprisingly, it took very little cajoling to get Pidge to accompany them to Allura's room once Rylen batted her eyes and tugged on her hands. Allura had managed to find some of her childhood dresses in the very back of her wardrobe – ones kept for special occasions and sentimental reasons – and even one that would fit Pidge without her tripping over six inches of hem.

Once they had all been properly dressed – by Rylen's decree – it was time for "Princess Hair." Rylen had settled into Pidge's lap while Mira let Allura play with her hair.

"Oh wow, Pidge, where did you learn to braid like that?" Allura gasped, looking over at the tiny braids and intricate coils Pidge had wrapped Rylen's hair into.

"Well, I didn't always have short hair, you know." She said with a smirk. "Nervous hands and long hair make for really good braiding."

Allura smiled, picturing all the intricate ways Pidge might have done her hair when it was longer. "Do you ever think about growing your hair out again?"

Pidge ran a hand through her short locks, and shrugged. "Sometimes, but right now keeping it short is easier. I don't really have to brush it or worry about it getting caught on something, or not fitting under my helmet." She appreciatively eyed Allura's own intricate braiding of Mira's hair. "Where did you learn to braid like that?"

Allura smiled softly and picked up another section of Mira's hair. "My mother used to allow me to style her hair when I was younger. I got a lot of practice."

Just then, Hunk burst into Allura's room, his eyes wide and worried. "Princess, have you see-oh!" Hunk coughed awkwardly, and the panic immediately left them. "We were, uh, we were looking for the girls. Shiro was afraid they'd wandered off somewhere."

Allura hardly paused her braiding as she playfully admonished the Yellow Paladin. "Well it certainly took you long enough to notice. I left with the girls almost an hour ago."

"We were… a little distracted."

"I could tell," Allura said with a smirk.

"So what's going on in here?" Hunk asked, his eyes roving around and taking in the rejected dressed scattered over Allura's bed.

"Girl time," Pidge said simply.

"We're being princesses!" Mira declared, beaming widely at Hunk.

Rylen gasped, shooting to her feet from Pidge's lap. Pidge winced as she accidently yanked on the section of hair she was braiding, but the child didn't seem to notice. "Can Hunk be a princess too?"

Allura and Pidge smirked at each other and then at Hunk. Pidge said, "If he wants to be one, sure."

Hunk rubbed at the back of his head, taking a half step back, about to turn down the offer. But Rylen flashed her puppy-dog eyes at him. He was no match for the puppy-dog eyes.

Neither were – it turned out – Keith or Shiro. Or Coran when he came around looking for the children and their Paladins for lunch.


End file.
